The construction of the Ratan Tata Building is scheduled to begin in March 2025, at the heart of Oxford University’s new Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

It will enhance Somerville’s teaching and learning facilities, promote research, and embody the college’s vision of a sustainable and progressive academic community, the Tata Group and Somerville College said in a statement.

While the decision to name the new building in honour of Tata in recognition of his lifelong work as a philanthropist and humanitarian was taken some time ago, his death felt so keenly throughout India and the world, which gives even greater meaning to this lasting tribute to him, the statement said.

“In Mr Tata’s vision for India, research and critical inquiry went hand in hand with development and prosperity. This partnership with Somerville College is a tribute to Mr Tata’s values. The building in his name will be a home to research that is necessary and urgent for India,” Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said.

Somerville College Principal, Baroness Royall said, “The building is the fruit of many conversations, hopes and dreams over the past decade and our long association with Mr Tata.”The building will house new seminar rooms and offices, existing alongside spaces for shared study and interdisciplinary collaboration, reception rooms and accommodation for visiting academics.

The Tata Building will stand opposite the internationally renowned Blavatnik School of Government, and will occupy the last remaining plot of land available for development on the prestigious Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site, directly opposite the new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, the statement said.